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would ever stop. I watched unbelieving as the wound knit and closed. After only a
moment, the skin was smooth and unmarked once again.
He handed back the knife with a smirk. I gripped it as lightly as I could and closed
my eyes as the blade sank into the pad at the base of my palm. The pain was sharp and
immediate. I dropped the bone knife and it clattered to the ground, coming to a stop just
inside the circle.
Valentine held the goblet while my injured hovered over it. Blood oozed reluctantly
and I squeezed with the fingers of my other hand to encourage it to flow more quickly.
Our blood mingled in the glass, dark red and indistinguishable.
When he was satisfied, Valentine pulled the goblet away. I pressed my injured hand
into the thin linen of my dress. I felt the creeping wetness of my own blood against the
skin of my thigh.
He brought the goblet under his nose and inhaled deeply like a connoisseur with a
fine vintage. "Now we drink."
His long fingers tipped up the glass and his throat worked as he swallowed our
blood. I shivered in disgust. It was over quickly and he offered me the glass. Even half-
empty the blood swirled inside, thick and dark.
I brought the goblet to my lips and swallowed in one long chug, trying to taste as
little of it as possible. He grabbed it from me and threw it aside. I heard the crash of
glass against the wall as we stared into each other's eyes.
"Say it now," he commanded.
"A gift freely given." The words seemed to float in front of me and hold before fading
away to the ether.
I waited.
"Is that it?" I asked.
He watched me silently. A satisfied smile played in the corner of his lips.
The burning started slowly. Fire crawled through my skin and licked at my insides.
Whips of flame flayed the skin from my bones. I tried to scream but my throat was raw
and burnt.
I fell to my knees and crawled along the floor. My hands pushed against the sides of
the circle but I was trapped. I was dying and burning. There was no escape. The runes
etched into the wood underneath my fingers trapped me inside a deadly furnace,
blinded and deafened. The thick stench of burnt flesh assailed my nostrils.
I relaxed into the excruciating pain. It would all be over soon.
The spell broke and my relief was like a rush of cold water. My cheek lay against
the wood of the floor, still within the confines of the circle that was now just marks on the
ground. I sat up and my hands traced over my arms. The skin was smooth and healed.
Candlelight cast caramel-colored shadows down the clean expanse of my body. The fire
was gone as if it never existed.
I got up on my hands and knees but couldn't make it any higher. I felt empty,
hollowed out. My insides had been sucked dry. I touched the ground and there was no
spark of awareness with the earth. The gentle current that ran through the world was
gone as if it had never existed. Though my vision was intact, I was blinded.
Valentine stretched above me like a contented cat. He loomed large and I shrank
back. My limbs were heavy weights as I tried to move. My body seemed cumbersome
and useless like too much dead weight. Is this how it felt to be truly human?
"Is it done?" My voice came reed-thin.
"You did wonderfully." He cast me a sardonic smile. "I haven't felt this good in
years."
His once-pale skin was infused with health. It was as if some of the gold and brown
in my own complexion had seeped into his. His eyes were bright and dark. Where there
should have been pale color, cold flames licked in the depths of his irises. He looked
more beautiful more perfect than he ever had before.
I rose to my feet slowly and managed to stand, wobbling only slightly as I fought to
stay upright. I couldn't pull my gaze from him. My power burned under his skin. He was
ablaze with light like an avenging archangel. I was adrift in an endless sea, cut off from
everything that I used to be.
There'd been no moment to strike him down, as if any effort on my part would have
succeeded. If Cynthie wanted Valentine dead, she was welcome to try for him on her
own. I was fully human worse than useless.
"I'm leaving now." Regret tinged my words and I pushed the feeling aside. I thought
of Zach and Sam waiting for me to take them back home. It wasn't just about me
anymore.
"It occurs to me, that a gift given can also be returned." He spoke idly, as if we
discussed the weather or recent gossip from the village below. "That isn't an outcome
that I'm willing to contemplate."
Marta materialized beside him. I had been completely unaware of her presence until
that moment. For all I knew, she simply melted from the wall. The cold and emotionless
set of her face was in stark contrast with Valentine's dark triumph.
I looked warily from one to the other. "Don't "
"Goodbye, Hex."
Marta was on me before there was time to react. I might have reacted more quickly
if ot wasn't the face of a friend that stared back at me. My hands came up but she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]